Our foray into Austria began with Stefan Wellanschitz and his Kolfok wines. We’d heard of them years ago “through the grapevine” and made a trek to Vienna in 2022 to seek them out. During that trip, after an initial tasting with Stefan and his mum, Christine, we had the opportunity to visit the winery and vineyards in Mittelburgenland – and our love for these wines was officially solidified! As is everyone else’s, it seems; these are always some of the most exciting and anticipated wines to hit Ontario. Making wines that are delicious and nerdy in the best ways, Stefan introduced us to an incredible collective of small, organic vignerons who are leading “new wave” winemaking in Austria today.

A “Kolfok” is an unconventional thinker, or someone who goes against the grain. For so many reasons, this is such a fitting name for Stefan’s work – which he carries out while balancing a tight-rope walk between respecting the past, and creating his own thumbprint for the future. Stefan’s family, on his mum’s side, has been making wine in the town of Neckenmarkt since the early 19th Century (when this area was still Hungarian), so Stefan is the newest generation to take up the family practice. He began making the Kolfok wines over 10 years ago, when he was just 23 years old.

Stefan and his family’s cellars are still based in Neckenmarkt, which is located in Mittelburgenland – specifically, just south of Lake Neusiedl and right on the Hungarian border (we actually rode through parts of Hungary taking the train south from Vienna to go visit). There’s so much history here, and so much pride in the family’s trade. And rightfully so! This is the only organic-farming family in this part of Burgenland, which as a region is better known for big, overly oaky red wines.

Overall, Kolfok is an exploration of the micro-climates of the beautiful, undulating and varied Wellanschitz vineyards. The major stylistic departure from the regional style is the lack of oak used (and even Wellanschitz are reserved in their oak usage, also preferring to maintain more overall balance), in addition to very anaerobic winemaking practices (minimal, if any pump-overs, sur lie aging without any lees stirring) and using absolutely minimal inputs in the cellar (minimal, if any sulphur, only at bottling if it’s used). While he sometimes plays stylistically (skin contact whites, greater percentages of whole cluster, intra-berry fermentation), Stefan generally chooses to use those techniques sparingly, maintaining a more “organic” (pun intended) result rather than creating wines that speak more to stylized winemaking than a sense of place. By practicing such restraints, Stefan showcases beautiful, balanced and complex iterations of terroir throughout this region.